By Kathleen Mullane

‘Out & About’

 Congrats and well done to all the Athea participants who took part in the County Finals of the Community Games in Mungret on Saturday last. They did extremely well with a good number coming away with medals. It’s great to see the level of fitness in the young people really improving in recent times.

Margaret Stackpoole of Gortnagross, celebrated her 60th birthday recently at the Top of the Town. A great night was enjoyed by Margaret and all her family and friends on this special occasion.

Athea Credit Union will be closed on this Saturday for ESB works. Instead it will have extra opening hours on Friday evening from 6.30 to 8.30pm as well as the usual Friday morning hours.

A great day was enjoyed by pupils and parents alike on Friday last at Athea N.S. when they held their annual ‘Fun Day’. On this occasion it was preceded by the hoisting of the ‘Green Flag’ by Canon Kelly, who also said some prayers beforehand. The flag was in recognition of the school being kept clean and tidy with recycling being of the utmost importance. There was a great cake sale on the day, for which everyone who baked is thanked sincerely. There was nail painting, jewellery selling, wet sponge throwing and much more. Well done to the students and teachers for a great ‘Fun Day’, a fundraiser for the school.

If anyone out there has a cat who has recently had kittens, I would like to hear of them, as my mother cat, who just had 4 kittens last week, got killed on the road today. Thankfully I got a ‘surrogate’ mother for one of them but I’ve ended up trying to keep the other 3 alive with a syringe of milk every few hours. Some of us are very soft when it comes to keeping animals alive!

Well all the Junior and Leaving Cert exams are over and done with for yet another year, and all that stress, tension and last minute cramming is finished. Peace of mind now for all until the results. In past years it was great, there were loads of jobs out there for the summer months for students who were able to make a few pounds over the holiday period. Not now unfortunately, it’s a pity as ‘boredom’ after a while sets in with not much to do, especially if the weather isn’t great. However, its good to see some of them taking to the roads walking, cycling and jogging – good for mind and body!